A photographic processing apparatus comprises a series of tanks which receive various processing solutions through which photographic material is passed as it is processed. The processing solutions consist of chemicals which can, in some cases, be hazardous to handle. It is therefore known to provide photographic processing solutions as ready-mixed chemicals in reservoirs or containers which can be connected to a photographic processing apparatus by way of tubes incorporating non-drip valves. The processing solution can be pumped into a processing tank and then be returned to the container once it is spent. The operation of connecting the container to the processing tank is, however, awkward and there is a significant risk of the processing chemical coming into contact with the person connecting a new container to the processing apparatus or disconnecting an old one containing a spent processing chemical. Clearly this is a most undesirable situation. While the use of non-drip valves and connectors might assist in reducing this risk, these items comprise many components and are therefore of a relatively complicated construction, are not cheap and may sometimes be unreliable.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved cartridge for photographic processing chemicals and a photographic processing apparatus using the cartridge which addresses the problems outlined above.